


Who Are You To Me?

by FindingSchmomo



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 05:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FindingSchmomo/pseuds/FindingSchmomo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to an accident, Makoto loses all of his memories. He patiently tries to build back all of his previous relationships with help of his friends and family. All except one. Haru has trouble reconnecting, especially after what happened that night. Submission for the MakoHaru Festival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Are You To Me?

**Author's Note:**

> if you like this work and have a tumblr, vote for it!  
> http://makoharufestival.tumblr.com/post/73805710921/challenge-mind-reader-user-findingschmomo

For not the first time in a long time, Haru was glad his parents no longer lived with him. There was no one to force him back home. There was no one to realize that he hadn’t gone back for days. At least not for longer than an hour.

He could stay in the hospital room as long as he wanted. As long as he needed to. As long as he was needed to, he liked to believe. 

“Haru...” A soft feminine voice made his head turn from where they peered at the patient closely, “You’re still here?” 

So he couldn’t always escape parental figures’ worries. But the Tachibanas were kindhearted people, and they didn’t hold any _real_ power over him. He nodded faintly at her, and she gave him a soft sad smile. She did that a lot now. She always used to smile. But they were warm and loving. Like Makoto. Now they were sad and forced and Haru couldn’t bear to look at them for long. 

So he didn’t.  

He turned to where Makoto lay dormant, brown hair flicked out in random directions wherever the heavy bandages around his head had gaps. His face looked peaceful. Too peaceful. A dead body, almost. Haru hated how his thoughts always rested on that idea. Fortunately, the soothing sound of the heart monitor kept those fears at bay. 

Makoto was alive. 

It happened almost a week ago. The car. The road. The dark. The cat. The screech. The _thud_. He felt his spine shiver at the horrid memory.  He probably shouldn’t have just stood there. He probably should have reacted to the other faster. He probably should have heard the car. He probably should have never let Makoto leave his side.

He probably should have done a lot of things. 

He probably should have told him.

But he didn’t.

But he was here now. He had not left his best friend’s side since. Only for the briefest moments for food, and quick--painfully quick--showers. The water had nothing to give him right now. Their relationship was tense. Nagisa, Rei and Kou visited daily for a while. He didn’t really say anything to them. That was something else he probably should have been doing.

But he had nothing to say. 

He didn’t like words anyway.

Makoto never minded that.

Rin visited in the night when he thought no one would be around. Each time Haru disproved that theory, but really he should have expected no less. Rin would stare at the sleeping teen, mutter a bunch of curses about careless drunkards and dumb felines--- _of course he’d get hurt trying to save a fucking stray cat from getting run over. Of course he would be that fucking stupid._ Haru let him speak all he wanted. Let him fill the heavy air of the room. 

That was Makoto’s job. To talk. To keep the silence away. He would talk for both of them, spilling out twice as many stories and laughs. Haru used to find it annoying. Silence was peaceful, it represented a time of being alone with the water, away from his friend for a few hours. 

He missed the noise so much. 

“Did he stir at all?” Mrs. Tachibana asked quietly, smoothing the bangs away from her son’s face. Haru shook his head in response. The Tachibanas dutifully came as many times a day as they could between work and caring for the twins. Ren and Ran refused to visit their brother after the first day-- _Oni chan won’t wake up! What if when we sleep we wont wake up? Will Mama and Papa be lonely like Haru-chan?_

Instead, they made cards and drawings, scrawled with messages of love and adoration for their parents to drop off. The nightstand was littered with them. 

In fact, at the moment, Mrs. Tachibana was reading one of the newer messages, softly explaining that Ren was taking good care of his big brother’s fish and that Mako-chan needed to wake up in order to see them. Haru looked away from the scene to stare out the window. It was a warm sunny summer day. How awful. 

“Mako-chan?” Came the soft gasp and Haru whirled around to see his best friend’s eyebrows twitch in his sleep. He rose up, stepping over to the opposite side of him and looking down at him carefully/

“Makoto.” He spoke up in his usual monotone. But Makoto would have caught the strain of desperate hope that made the edges faintly hoarse. He would have seen the searching look in his blue eyes. He would know what he meant. 

And Haru’s heart swelled as he was answered, when bleary green eyes blinked open and squinted up at the two of them. 

“Oh Mako-chan, baby, you’re ok! You’re ok...Oh, God, you had us all so worried!” Mrs. Tachibana broke out, as the faintest tears rolled down here reddening cheeks. She kissed his forehead, then both his cheeks and then couldn’t help but repeat the cycle three more times before finally pulling away.

Haru allowed the smallest of smiles to grace his features. However, his fingers tightened around the bar of the bed, a sense of bitterment at the touching site. A sense of longing pulsed through him. He didn’t let anything bubble up onto his features though. 

Makoto had yet to say anything. He looked confused. Which was normal, he _had_ been asleep for a very long time. However, Haru couldn’t help having a sinking feeling as he and Mrs. Tachibana helped the teen sit up. Makoto was tense and quiet. 

Makoto was never tense and quiet.

The older woman stepped away, “Oh, I have to tell your Father! He’ll bring the twins right over!” She was explaining in a rush of excitement and emotion, flipping open her phone and dialing the number. 

Makoto continued to watch her, his eyebrows furrowing before he glanced over to the other teenager in the room. 

They stared at each other, and Haruka could feel his entire being falling under the weight of the realization that there was nothing in those green eyes. No understanding. No communication. No recollection.

Nothing, at all. 

They were closed green doors with not a single gap to try to push through. 

He could feel his own eyebrows raising in shock before Makoto even opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry...but...who are you?”

* * *

 

It had been two weeks since then and Makoto had slowly been able to recover from his trauma. He almost seemed like his old self. Almost. The confusion still lingered. 

He had amnesia. And it would not dissipate. But the Tachibanas were patient and loving. They told stories, they smiled, they laughed. His mother went through all of his things, telling him every memory she could think of. He listened greedily, trying to retain everything spoken. His father showed him his trophies, his love for swimming. The twins were even better, bouncing about him excitedly and constantly chattering-- _Oni-chan remember this? Remember when you took us to the zoo! Remember?_

They were all so kind and loving and it was easy for him to fall in love with them all over again. He was so blessed to have such a family it made his heart hurt that he did not remember them. But they were never mad.

His friends did the same. Nagisa told him everything in a grandiose manner, to the point where Makoto became a bit more skeptical of his words. Nevertheless, he was a bubbly blond with a wonderful smile and he could tell his heart was in the right place. He liked him. 

Rei was a lot more detailed. Recounting the minutia of every moment until Makoto felt his head spinning. It became more of him assuring the blue haired man that he believed him with a smile and soft chuckle than actually listening to his stories to the end. He obviously cared and wanted to make their relationship perfectly fit the mold of that before the incidence. It was endearing. 

Rin called him a lot. He told him stories of when they were little. He seemed the most honest and genuine of the three. Embarrassed of what he was saying, but, at least to Makoto, it felt like the other was getting some therapeutic relief from recounting the memories and living through them again. It felt like the other needed him for support. He was happy to help. 

Everyone at school who had known him did their best to remind him of himself, with varying degrees of success. But overall, Makoto was happy to listen and try his best. 

But there was one stranger in all of the family photos. One presence in every single story. One silent figure attached to his past that he could not decode for the life of him. 

Haruka Nanase. 

“Oh, and here’s you and Haru at your first swim meet, you’re both so cute! Oh and here’s you and Haruka at your 6th birthday---“

“Oni-chan! This was your favorite video game! You and Haru-chan would play it all the time when he came over!”

“Oh! I have another one! One time, a couple months ago, you and I were trying to figure out how much water it would take for Haru-chan to jump in! You had to inflate a small pool and your face turned blue! It was hilarious!”

“If I recall correctly, there was that one time the waiter mistook my order and everyone laughed. But you laughed the hardest. Haruka-senpai almost laughed, he turned to you to hide.”

And now, “When we were lil kids Haru thought I was the coolest shit and wanted to run home just like me so he left you with his bike. You had to take both bikes back! What a dick!” 

“Yeah...”

Rin suddenly paused, the phone oddly silent, “Huh?”

“I mean...that sounds...pretty mean.” Makoto coughed out awkwardly, realizing he had responded wrongly. He scratched the back of his head praying for Rin to start speaking again.

“You...You don’t remember him at all?” Rin asked quietly. Quieter than he ever remembered hearing Rin speak...which granted didn’t mean much.

“I don’t remember anyone.” Came the easy defense.

“No but...He’s different. You guys are inseparable.” 

“So I’m told.” Makoto replied quickly, getting a little annoyed at being reminded the same thing over and over again. _You and Haru. Oni-chan and Haru chan. You and Haru-chan. You and Haruka-senpai._ Never just you. 

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Rin finally stated, hanging up almost immediately. Makoto shrugged. Everything was confusing now a days anyway.

For the person deemed by all to be his best friend, Haruka wasn’t making much of an effort to reach him. He seemed like a bad student. He didn’t come to school regularly, and he was usually late. He would enter the classroom and ignore the teacher, taking a seat beside Makoto and pulling out a paper to doodle on. 

He never spoke to him. 

Sometimes he would catch Haru staring at him intently. And when he looked over at him the blue eyes wouldn’t dart away quickly, guilty of being caught. Instead, they would linger even more intensely, as if searching his soul. Then he would frown deeper, and look away, tense. 

It didn’t make any sense to the brown haired teen. 

At lunch Haru would join him along with the rest of the swim team and still never speak. Sometimes Nagisa would complain about the silence, bemoaning something loudly to fill  it up, “Haru-chaaaan! Help me explain to Rei! Your underwater headstand was perfect! Don’t you have any tips?” Haru would snort and roll his eyes away. And then Nagisa would look at Makoto expectantly, and he would just stare back wondering why he was suddenly being interrogated. 

Nagisa would then slump his shoulders with a loud sigh, before quickly changing the subject. 

He couldn’t see how Haruka and he had been friends before and not merely acquaintances. The only thing he could think of was he had just known him the longest, and they lived close to each other. But now, he had other friends. 

He didn’t see what was worth in investigating the matter further. 

* * *

“Haru, what the hell are you doing!?” 

Haru stiffened, turning towards the door and away from the mackerel he was preparing for himself. “Don’t just walk into my house.” Was his only remark before he turned back to his cooking. In truth, he was a bit happy for the sudden company. He always found himself to be a solitary creature. Until now. He realized he needed at least a little bit of attention. He needed someone to care. 

Rin rolled his eyes, stomping further into the kitchen, “You never told Makoto that, did you?” He could see the teen in front of him freeze. No response was offered. Instead, his head turned to the side, frowning and glaring at the ground before turning his stove off slowly. 

Rin came up behind him, his voice almost a sympathetic murmur if it didn’t contain the roughness of his voice, “You’re gonna lose him unless you tell him.” He pressed, attempting to put a comforting hand on the older teen’s shoulder. It was immediately shrugged off.  

“I already lost him.”

Rin was never good at comforting so he decided to drop the act, roughly grabbing the other to spin him around to face him, “Look, you didn’t always have your weird telepathy! Just fucking talk to the guy! He thinks you hate him!” Haru’s blue eyes only looked down at the ground at the comment, his entire form stiffening beneath the clenching fingers on his arms. 

“You’re a fucking mess you know that.” Rin continued, almost sneering now in disgust at the passivity before him, “When’s the last time you got to school _remotely_ on time. And have you eaten anything other than mackerel?” Haru still said nothing, feebly trying to get away but seeming to have no strength to follow through. It made Rin sick. 

“Look at it from his eyes. Every person here is telling him how close you two were and you haven’t spoken a damn word to him!” The redhead flared up, shaking the other in an effort to get some sense into him. Haru frowned deeper. Rin glared even harder,  “Makoto deserves better than that!”

“I know.” Came the small admonishment in a frail voice. “I know.” Haru repeated, finally freeing himself from the other’s grip. “I know but I don’t know where to start.”

“Start from the fucking beginning!” Rin snapped in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Which beginning?” Haru almost pleaded, and the redhead’s eyebrows scrunched up in utter confusion.

“The fuck does that mean?” Haru remained quiet, letting out a sigh and pushing past the other to get away. Rin grabbed him again, “Don’t you dare leave, we’re not done here!” Haru tugged his arm free and started climbing up his steps. Rin followed after him, snarling out curses and questions, “What the fuck does that mean, Haru? What the fuck were you two _even doing_ that night so late?”

They ended up in the bathroom and Haru turned on the water to let it start filling the bath. Rin looked even angrier as the other began to strip off his clothes, “Fuckin’ answer me!”

“If Makoto doesn’t remember, nothing that happened that night matters anymore.” Haru obliged, slipping himself into the tub with his swimsuit on. Rin growled under his breath at the non-answer and, realizing he was going to get no where now that the other was soaking in his tub, stormed out of the house.

Haru closed his eyes and slipped into the water, opening them again once he was fully submerged. He thought back to that fateful night, realizing he could remember almost every detail exactly. Every decision made. Every word spoken.

And it gave him an idea that filled him with an inkling of hope. 

* * *

“Oh hello H--! Oh, yes thats fine. Yes, I think that’s a great idea. I’ll tell him.”

Makoto looked over at his mother as she hung up her phone, “Haru invited you over for a sleepover! So go pack your overnight bag.”

“He did?” The brunet questioned, looking up from the manga he was reading. It was apparently one of his favorites. So far he quite liked it, so he supposed he had good taste.

“I’m surprised he hadn’t yet... I think this is the longest time you’ve slept continually at home!” She chuckled humorlessly, a sad light glinting in her eye “It’s really surprising...”

“I...I don’t want to go.” Makoto mumbled out, trying to press his face back into the graphic novel and not look at his mother. He felt a swell of guilt at the statement, but in all honesty he just wasn’t comfortable being around the older teen. Especially by himself. 

“What do you mean?” And Makoto could feel the heartbreak oozing out of each syllable. It made him feel worse.

Still, he pleaded, “I don’t know him. I don’t want to sleep there.”

“He’s your best friend.” She insisted, frowning deeper at her son’s words. 

If only he’d been paid every time he heard that. It was really starting to get on his nerves, and he pulled his head out of his manga to snap, perhaps a bit to angrily, “I don’t remember him!” 

“Well, take this time to get to know him again!” Came the harsh answer, one he was surprised to find. But perhaps he deserved it for talking back to his mother who seemed to be such a very gentle and sweet person. It wasn’t her fault. She was just trying to get him back to the way he was. He could understand that. 

“He hasn’t even tried to do that yet.” He mumbled pathetically.

It was responded with a quick retort of, “He’s trying now!” She then calmed herself before continuing in a soft sad voice, “Did you know, when you were in the hospital, he never left your side...”

* * *

 

Haru heard his doorbell ring and paused. The sound confused him for a moment, before he realized that Makoto didn’t know he had permission to just walk in. That he knew where the spare keys were. That he knew coming around the back was always easiest. 

He got up and took a deep calming breath, managing to walk to the front door and open it. Makoto was fidgeting with his bag, looking uncomfortable.

Haru said nothing, opening the door further and stepping to the side to let him in. Makoto took his cue, shuffling inside while muttering a polite thank you. He set his bag down, beginning to pry off his shoes. Haru watched him.

“Uh, my mom says...that we have sleepovers a lot.” He tried to start a conversation. Haru continued to watch him intently.

“We did.”

“You want to...tell me about them?” He probed, feeling his frustration rising. 

“You’ve heard it before.” Haru responded, turning away to venture back into the kitchen. He mentally berated himself. He was suppose to be talking. He was supposed to be telling him. Pleading him to remember. To at least remember that night. But he just couldn’t bring himself to speak. He didn’t know why. It felt like he was already telling him everything he could, but it just wasn’t getting through. 

“But I haven’t heard it from you!” Makoto insisted with an annoyed sigh, scampering to follow the shorter teen into the room and almost tripping over himself. “Everyone says we’re best friends. But I still don’t know you at all!” 

Haru felt his shoulders droop, placing the tea he had made on the table with slightly shaking hands, before taking a seat. He didn’t look up at the other, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” Makoto continued, sitting down opposite to him, “Why can’t you just tell me what we were like? Why can’t you help me figure this out?”

“I’m not like them.” Haru tried, searching desperately for some way to verbalize his difficulties, “I...I don’t rely on words. You spoke for us both.” 

“Ok, but that was before! I can’t do that anymore, its different now.” Makoto pleaded, “Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? To constantly be told by everyone that you were super important only to get the cold shoulder? I don’t even know if I want to be friends with you anymore.”

That struck something.

Haru’s head shot up, eyes wide at such an admonition. Makoto was taken aback by how raw those blue eyes felt. He felt guilty for saying those words. Maybe he was being the selfish one. 

“Please,” Haru began, standing up, “Please don’t give up on me.” A new surge of urgency swelled through him to enact his plan. He stumbled out of the room, before pausing and returning to pull at the brunet’s shirt. A signal to follow. Makoto hesitantly complied. 

He took him up the steps to his bathroom and Makoto felt very awkward standing in the room, especially as he was soon being politely shoved into the dry bathtub. 

“What are you doing?” He asked, alarmed, almost slipping on the smooth tile. 

“Showing you.” Haru claimed, sitting him into the bathtub and making a motion for him to stay. He then left the room. Makoto felt silly and uncomfortable, awkwardly hunched in a stranger’s bathtub, alone. He had half a mind to just leave, but something made him linger.

He heard the footsteps returning and a voice from outside, “Every morning you come here to get me for school.” It explained as the door opened, “You open the door to my bathroom and you walk in and complain, ‘Haru we’re going to be late. Haru, why are you still in the bath.’” He tried to mimic a higher pitch. Makoto stared at him. 

Haru came forward toward the bath, “Then you--you stretch out your hand,” he continued, copying the action and offering his hand while straining to smile like Makoto always did. It was no where near the same. As the brunet continued to just stare at the offering, he added, “And I--I would huff at you for being so annoying but I always took your hand.” He offered his hand more forcefully, and for emphasis, repeated, “I _always_ took your hand.”

Makoto got the message and reluctantly grasped the hand, allowing himself to be hauled out of the bathtub. But that wasn’t the end of it, instead he was soon dragged back down the stairs to the kitchen and shoved in front of the counter. 

“And then I would cook breakfast. And you would rush me. And you would complain if I made mackerel. And you would hover.” The black haired teen listed quickly. 

“N-Nanase, this is weird, can you please stop.” Makoto whispered, feeling weird and uncomfortable about this whole recreation. 

Haru froze, shocked, “Don’t call me that. Don’t call me that.” He responded instead, looking up at him, “It’s Haru. Haruka when you’re scolding me. Sometimes Haru-chan but i hate it.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t remember...any of this. And I...I don’t know. This just feels weird.”

“Please.” 

“Nanase, I’m gonna go...”

“Don’t call me that. Don’t go.”

Makoto shook his head, strained face in place as he tried to leave the room only to be held back by a firm grasp on his arm. 

“Let go of me.”

“I can’t.” Haru pleaded. “We can skip the daily routine.” He stated quickly, “Let me just...Let me show you that night. At least that night.” 

“What night?” Makoto asked, a sense of fear beginning to clutch at his heart at the erratic behavior. There was no one in this house but him and Haruka. And he did not feel safe at all. His house was only down the steps and around the corner. He wondered if he shouted loud enough if his parents would hear him--

“The night you were hurt.”

His eyes darted back around to stare at the other horrified, “You want me to relive the night I got run over?” He asked incredulously. 

Haru frowned, “No, no, no you don’t understand.” He insisted, “Before that, we have to do the part before that.” His blue eyes focused on the other’s green but they remained closed off and judgmental. He could feel all hope leaving him and it made him even more desperate, fingers digging into the other’s arm. “Everyone always leaves. Except you. You never left. You always stayed with me.” He tried, hand tugging now. Makoto simply continued to stare at him in alarm so he kept going, “You were the one thing that never changed.”

“Please--“ Makoto began trying to pry himself but Haru couldn’t let him do that. He couldn’t let go. Not now. 

“But things did change that night.” Haru hissed out rapidly, “We changed. I hate change. But it was a good change. A change I never even thought of. You did. You said it. You. Please, remember.” 

“Oh my god!” 

Both teens froze at the sudden shout, as a certain redhead bursted into the room, smacking his own face in frustration. 

“Rin!” They both shouted out in unison, and Rin felt a sense of nostalgia but quickly buried it down, “What are you doing here?” Haru questioned letting go of Makoto and straightening up. Feeling a bit repulsed by his previous needy and desperate behavior. Especially now that he knew Rin had seen it all. It was different if only Makoto had witnessed him so vulnerable.

“I had to stop this bullshit.” Rin answered, coming in to stand in front of the two, “Haru, you are literally the worst communicator I have ever seen in my entire life.” He snapped, and Haru quickly looked to the side with a frown, “Like, that was _painful_ to watch.”

“I get it.” Haru retorted, “Go home.”

“I ain’t going home until this is resolved.” Rin replied, turning away to go through the black haired teen’s cupboard. “Because it clearly isn’t going to be if you continue on with this shitty plan you came up with.”

“Do you have another one?” Haru muttered, crossing his arms. Makoto suddenly felt invisible, wondering if he should speak up to remind the pair that he was still in the room. He could hear everything they were saying.

“Nagisa gave me one an hour ago.” Rin explained, grinning as he found what he was look for. He pulled out a pan from its hiding place, flexing his grip on it expermentally. Haru narrowed his eyes at it. 

“Rin...” Haru began, watching the other teen in confusion. 

Rin paid him no mine, edging forward, “Makoto, I want you to know. I care about you a lot. This is for your own good.”

Makoto stared at him dumbfounded, suddenly wishing he was invisible again. 

Haru’s eyes widened, “Rin, no!”

But it was too late. Rin swung his arm back and slammed the pan into Makoto’s naive little head. There was a loud shout, a stumbling and a _thud_ , as the tall teen hit the ground. 

Rin’s own eyes widened at the site, dropping the pan, “Ok, shit I didn’t think that through did I.”

Haru had no time for him as he quickly darted to Makoto’s side in an agitated cloud of concern and anxiety. Mussing his hair for any sign of blood or injury, feeling a thick knot from the impact that would certainly hurt for a long time. He was breathing though. And there was no blood. He assessed he would be ok. But he was unconscious. 

Haru rose up, swirling around darkly to face the intruder in his house. Rin had never seen the other so furious, and he made it a point to annoy the shit out of the black haired teen whenever he could. He swallowed thickly. 

He was about to run, but before he could do that he was being shoved into a wall, hands gripping his collar tightly, and trembling. “Why did you do that!” The older teen shouted, his bangs shading his eyes and Rin suddenly felt very small in the other’s grip. 

“Nagisa heard blows to the head can trigger memory!” Rin defended, trying to pry the others hands off him. He was only shoved further into the wall for his troubles. He grunted, gritting his teeth. 

“He just got out of the hospital! You could have killed him!” Haru insisted, “Before I could ever tell him my answer!”

“What answer! The fuck are you talking about!” Rin yelled back, still struggling vainly.

“That I love him!” Came the furious response, and the fact he’d finally said it out loud made him freeze up and let go. He backed away, looking uncomfortable and vulnerable, something Rin barely ever saw. But Rin was still digesting the words that were spat in his face.

“...What happened that night?”

* * *

 

“Haruuuuu.” Makoto whined, sprawled out on the floor of the other’s bedroom, “You’ve had mackerel _every night_ this week!” He exclaimed, pushing himself up to a more serious sitting position, “Lets eat something different.”

“Mackerel is all I have.” Haru shrugged, leaving his bedroom to venture down to the kitchen. He heard Makoto race after him, his stomach growling loudly, “Plus, you’re hungry now.”

“Because its so late! We should be more careful of time when we play video games.” Makoto bemoaned, ruffling up his own hair. “I bet Lawson’s is still open, though. We should go get something there.”

“Or we could have mackerel.”

“Haru.”

The black haired teen rolled his eyes, but then started putting on his shoes, alerting Makoto of his victory. The brunet felt a smile elate his features as he hurried to do the same. In a few moments they were out the door and heading for the convenience store. 

Twenty minutes later they were returning up the hill, Makoto munching idly on one of the riceballs he’d gotten. Haruka wasn’t hungry enough to start eating as they walked, and simply listened on as Makoto spoke between bites. 

“Haru.” Makoto suddenly stated, and it wouldn’t have seemed so sudden if the teen hadn’t decided to stop walking in that moment as well. Haru stopped too, turning to look over at his best friend to see him looking at him so openly. It made his own eyes widen. That reaction only made Makoto smile bright and tilt his head slightly.

“Thank you, for going out to get food with me, Haru.”

Haru merely shrugged in response and Makoto only smiled brighter, “I love you.”

And that made Haru tense up. And Makoto noticed and suddenly went tense himself. He dropped his plastic bag, hand shooting up to cover his mouth while his green eyes widened in fear. His other hand waved quickly in front of him as if to swat away the three words that hung dangerously in the air. 

Haru remained silent. Makoto took it upon himself to fill it as quickly as possible, “I mean--I...I...” But he floundered, and his shoulders drooped, “I’m sorry.” He finally rested on, “I...I shouldn’t have said that! Especially like that! I...I...” He looked away, his hands fidgeting with the back of his neck, awkwardly. 

Haru blinked, and he felt words bubbling up in his chest but he didn’t know how to say them, he wished Makoto would look at him so he would just _see_ it in his eyes. But when the taller teen was about to face him again he froze, “Hey, that’s--“ And then the rattling of fast car in the distance. 

And then suddenly Makoto wasn’t in front of him anymore. 

And Haru was alone except for a screech of brakes and a _thud_.

* * *

Rin stared at Haru as the story overwhelmed him and he poured it all out between the two. He crossed his arms tightly around his chest, as if it would protect his heart, even as he was laying it out to be trampled. Rin was never a delicate creature, and yet it was him he was telling all this. 

But Rin was not as big of a jerk as he tried to make it seem, and said nothing. All he murmured was an, “I didn’t know.”

“I did.”

The pair swiveled around to see Makoto sitting up dizzily, holding his face in his hands with a sudden groan. He smiled through it nevertheless, and it was such a _Makoto_ thing to do that the pair were taken aback. They quickly rushed to his side, and Rin began offering a slew of apologies for his previous actions. 

But Haru was having none of that distraction and instead took Makoto’s face delicately in his hands, to turn him toward him. His blue eyes bored into green ones, searching for anything there. Any sign. The light was still dim but there was a crack in the door. A crack that could be easily chiseled away. 

“Makoto.” He breathed out in relief, his grip suddenly stronger on the other. 

Makoto smiled again, and Rin, slow and not one for eye games, frowned, “Did...Did it work? Do you remember?”

“Sort of.” Was the honest response, green eyes flickering to look over at Rin because Haru refused to let go of his face. “I...I remember a little.”

“What do you remember?” Rin insisted, feeling vindicated in that his plan worked. That he wasn’t going to hell for hitting the arguably nicest person in Japan. 

Haru let go of Makoto turning to Rin instead, “Leave.”

“Hey, wait what?! I’m the _hero_ here! You can’t just drive me out so quick!” The redhead argued, offended. Makoto sent him a pleading look and Rin pieced together a message, “Oh my god you guys are gonna cliche it up again aren’t you? Are you gonna start making out the minute I leave?”

Haru glared at him even more intently, “Leave. _Now._ ”

“Ok! Ok!” Rin sighed, standing up, “But...Makoto, call me later ok?” He added softly, before finally exiting the home. He still was worried about his friend after all.  

Haru quickly returned his gaze to Makoto’s, hand smoothing the others hair and lightly tracing the bump hidden beneath it. Makoto let out a hiss of pain and Haru paused, frowning. 

“What do you remember?” Haru asked, softly, looking down. His hands slid from the other’s face to rest on his shoulders. 

“I remember you. Or some of you. I remember you helping me when I drowned. I remember swimming with you in that relay. I remember confessing to you that night.”

Haru nodded slowly, but his eyes asked another question. _Do you still feel the same_.

“Of course I do.” Makoto whispered softly, and it was all Haru needed to wrap his arms tightly around the other and press his lips against his, grateful for the first time, in a not so long time, that his parents no longer lived with him. There was no one there to stop him from kissing the most important person in his life. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So, this is my submission for the MakoHaru Festival happening on tumblr (makoharufestival.tumblr.com). It will be posted tomorrow with the batch Mind Reader. If you liked it and have a tumblr you should totally vote for it! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (once its posted on the festival I'll add the link for it here!)  
> aka right now  
> http://makoharufestival.tumblr.com/post/73805710921/challenge-mind-reader-user-findingschmomo


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